GAM - Montessori Retreat 2025 - program

28 - 30 MARCH 2025

GAM Montessori Retreat Space, design and learning

Space, design and learning Space, design and learning in Montessori are deeply connected building bricks in the Montessori philosophy. In the book Montessori Architectural Patterns spot-on ideas can be found on this particular subject. At the core of our approach to Montessori Architecture is an attitude of never under-estimating the child’s sensitivity to his or her environment. In order to feel secure, the child must be surrounded by ‘knowable space’. The exploration of the space must be at the child’s own volition. The child must be free to move in and around the space so the environment must be adapted to the child’s needs, because in turn the child will adapt to the environment. ‘The Prepared Environment’ is a key concept in Montessori pedagogy and therefore our foundation. At its simplest our concern is with the environment, the child within the environment and the relationship of the child with the trained Montessori teacher in the environment. To create a ‘knowable space’ we must have in mind the articulation of that space and the elements which foster a sense of secure orientation within it. We can do this by creating a ‘hierarchy of interconnected spaces’. Orientation can be achieved in different ways with directional spaces or centralised spaces, tall spaces or low spaces, small spaces or big spaces, we are confined only by the parameters of the location and any existing structure. From the child’s perspective we are thinking of how the disposition of space creates ‘knowability’ and our ambition is a ‘hierarchy of interconnected spaces’ which fulfil the formal use requirements and allow an orientating understanding to develop in the child’s mind. It is also our obligation to introduce sufficient complexity to meet the child’s curiosity and to design space which meets the child’s needs for gross motor activity.

“The adult, the child, and the environment are a trinity. They should be considered as one.” Maria Montessori - The 1946 London Lectures, p. 213

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On orders placed before, during or in the week after the Retreat we offer all participants a discount of 20% and free shipping on all shipments within the EU.

20% discount and free shipping

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Program

The program March 28 - 30

Friday - March 28

17:00 Welcome and history of GAM

Michele

Walk into a room, create a community - a space where we start to do it by ourselves

18:00

Patricia

Benedetto Scoppola

19:15 Opera Nazionale Montessori

20:00 Dinner & Drinks 21:30 End

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Saturday - March 29

08:30

Entrance

A casa away from home - a space where I can do it by myself

Madlena & Marilyne

09:00

10:30

Break

Using your space for sports – a space to unite your sport skills and psyche

11:00

Jip

12:30

Lunch

Designing learning environments - a beautiful space to foster independence and freedom

Giovanni Fumagalli

13:30

14:30

Workshops

Comune di Gonzaga

17:00

Tour Montessori Villa Alessia and Town Center

20:00

Dinner & Drinks

21:30

End

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Program

Sunday - March 30

08:30 Entrance

Choreography of the community - a space where we learn to work together

09:00

Carla

10:30 Break

Ownership of the space - a space where we need to do it together

Jenny & Baiba

11:00

12:30 End

Optional:

Own transport

13:30 Transfer to Bergamo

15:30 Tour through the AMI training center in Bergamo

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Patricia Wallner has been working in Montessori since 1970. She took her AMI 3-6 diploma in Washington D.C. and the 0-3 diploma in Houston, Texas with Dr. Silvana Montanaro. For 17 years she worked in a bilingual Infant Community in Amsterdam, The Netherlands where she lives. In 1995 she began the Training of Trainers program supported by the AMI and during her training earned a Master’s degree in Education. She has trained students and lectured in Europe, Asia and the U.S.A. Her goal is to promote Montessori, especially for the 0-3 age group in Europe.

Patricia Wallner

“Walk into a room, create a community - a space where we start to do it by ourselves”

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Speakers

“Using your space for sports – a space to unite your sport skills and psyche”

Jip Bartels Jip’s dream was to become a successful professional soccer player. He played for the Dutch national youth teams and signed a contract at AFC Ajax aged 16, but unfortunately three cruciate ligament injuries at the age of 17, 18 and 19 prevented him from living that dream. During his stay at the AFC Ajax youth academy he came in touch with Ruben Jongkind and Patrick Oudejans. Jip kept playing semi-professionally but decided to focus on his study and even won the prize of ‘Student Talent of the Year’ during his Bachelor (Honors) in Organizational Sciences. He thanked this to his extracurricular activities and his positive, energetic, and disciplined attitude. After finishing his Master of Business Administration, he moved to Melbourne to start Montessori Sports programs in Australia. In 2021 he came back to Amsterdam to continue his mission with Montessori Sports. He holds a 6 to 12 AMI Assistant Certificate. Jip believes that sports and Montessori is the best combination for young children to develop their full potential.

Madlena Ulrich Madlena Ulrich spent her childhood in Ger many and attended a Montessori Elementary school there. She moved to Norway as an adolescent and later obtained a Bachelor’s degree as a preschool teacher and is about to finish a Master’s degree in pedagogy at the university College of Vestfold, Norway. She took her original AMI 3-6 training at Mount St. Mary’s Montessori College in Dublin, Ireland. Since 1995 she has worked in the classroom and has been involved in the development of Montessori in Norway by giving lectures and serving as Vice President on the board for the national association NMF. In 2008 she star ted on her Training of Trainers, spending two years with Molly O’Shaughnessy in Minnesota and a Summer course with Ulla Wikefeldt in Sweden. She is currently part of the AMI fa culty in China and trains and lectures in Nor way as well as in many other countries.

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Speakers

“A casa away from home - a space where I can do it by myself”

Marilyne Maugin After finishing her ‘Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies’ in medieval literature at the university of Lyon Lumières, Marilyne moved to London, where she finished her doctorate, and was giving college at the university on French civilization and medieval literature. When she returned to France in 2001, she finished her AMI 3-6 diploma. For 10 years she worked as a Montessori teacher in several schools in and around Paris. In 2015 she finished her AMI 6-12 diploma course, and in 2017 Marilyne started the AMI Training of Trainers program (3 – 6). She is now working at the Institut Supérieure Maria Montessori in Paris, where she is training new teachers, consulting Montessori kindergartens and is still doing research together with the ISMM-trainers.

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“Opera Nazionale Montessori”

Benedetto Scoppola Professor Benedetto Scoppola is the president of Opera Nazionale Montessori (ONM) founded by Maria Montessori in 1924 in Rome and Director of the magazine “Vita dell’Infanzia”. He is a professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome and a teacher of Mathematics Education at Lumsa University in Rome. For twenty years he has been researching the mathematics learning process in childhood and adolescence. Author of numerous articles on mathematics learning according to the Montessori method in both national and international magazines.

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Speakers

Giovanni Fumagalli Giovanni Fumagalli is an architect and designer, born in Milan and currently residing in Rome. He holds a PhD from Genoa and taught at the universities of Roma Tre, Ferrara, and Ascoli Piceno from 1996 to 2010. He founded the design studio CC91, which specializes in projects for kindergartens and schools, with numerous projects completed in various Italian cities and recently in Shanghai. His research and training focus on the design of learning spaces. He serves as a consultant at the “Istituto degli Innocenti” in Florence, where he designed the renovation of the large garden within the architectural complex originally built by Brunel leschi in 1419. He is also the designer and art director of GAM GonzagArredi Montessori. In 2018, he lectured at the Department of Preschool Education at Nanjing Normal University and at the fourth Annual Conference of the AMI China Affiliated Society in Chongqing.

“Designing learning environments - a beautiful space to foster independence and freedom”

“Choreography of the community - a space where we learn to work together”

Carla Foster Carla Foster is originally from California, but has lived the last 14 years in Norway. She graduated from UC Berkeley, California with bachelor’s degrees in Social Anthropology and Scandinavian Studies and a masters in Old Icelandic Literature and Norwegian Literature. She has her AMI 3 - 6 diploma from the MMTO in London in 1984 and her AMI 6-12 diploma from Milwaukee in 1990 and has been working with elementary children since 1990. She had her own class in Norway for 12 years before joining the AMI Training of Trainers program. Since then she has assisted on the AMI 6-12 summer course in London with Ann Dunne and the AMI 6-12 course in Chennai with Jean Miller. She is now training and lecturing in Norway and several other countries. Any spare time is spent doing various forms of dance.

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Speakers

Jenny Marie Höglund Jenny Marie holds AMI diplomas for the ages 3-6 and 6-12. She has mainly worked with the 6-12 and 12-18 (adolescents). She also holds a M.Ed. and she is an established AMI Elementary trainer. Jenny Marie was one of the founders of the Montessori School “Lära för Livet” in Varberg, Sweden in 1995, teaching children from 1 till 16 years of age. She founded and runs the first and so far the only Swedish Montessori Farm School. Jenny Marie has taught elementary and adolescent students for over twenty-three years. She has been serving as head of school since 2006. She has also lectured at the International Centre for Montessori Studies Foundation-Bergamo (CISM), in Italy since 2006.

“Ownership of the space - A space where we need to do it together”

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Baiba Krumins Grazzini

Director of Elenentary Training at the Fondazione Centro Internazionale Studi Montessoriani in Bergamo, Italy. AMI trainer, lecturer and examiner, Baiba Krumins Grazzini is director of elementary training at the Fondazione Centro Internazionale Studi Montessoriani (Bergamo, Italy), an AMI Traning Centre which was founded by Mario Montessori in 1961. She has been involved with Bergamo’s AMI Elementary training course since 1975, became an AMI elementary trainer in 1986, and a director of training in 1992. Baiba Krumins Grazzini trained in London with Hilla Patell and Muriel Dwyer, in Bergamo with Eleonora Honegger Caprotti and Camillo Grazzini and, as part of her Training of Trainers Programme, in Washington with Margaret Stephenson and Fahmida Malik. In addition to her work in Bergamo, she has lectured in Spain, Ireland, India and in Japan, where she gave the first elementary training course.

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Location

GAM headquaters

Town of Gonzaga

Venue

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Practical information on the GAM Montessori Retreat

Language The main language which will be used during this weekend will be English. We would like you to organize your own translator if you need any. Costs The costs for this Montessori Retreat will be €150 per person. Except for breakfast all meals and drinks are included (2 x dinner & 1 x lunch). The maximum number of participants is 150. Special Offer During this weekend GAM offers you a 20% discount on all orders and free shipping on all shipments within the EU. Please feel free to benefit from this generous offer! Please send in your orders in advance by email to montessori@gonzagarredi.it, so that we can already make the necessary preparations. Venue Address GAM - GonzagArredi Montessori Srl Via Leone XIII, 7 - 46023 Gonzaga (MN), Italy Phone: +39 0376 518 200 - montessori@gonzagarredi.it - www.gonzagarredi.com

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Information

There are different ways to reach us: By (rental) car As we are all used to GPS navigation devices nowadays, just enter the address. By plane/train The nearest airports are Verona (VRN), Bologna (BLQ), Bergamo (BGY) You can reach Gonzaga by car or by train. Make sure that you arrange your own transport from your accommodation to GAM and back. If you need help, please write to montessori@gonzagarredi.it Accommodation In order to find a place to stay you can use the familiar websites to find hotels like www.booking.com or www.trivago.com. Registration You can register by using the following link: gamretreat2025.paperform.co/ After your registration we will contact you for more detailed information about the participants so that we will be able to prepare your badge for the event. The last date to register for this Montessori Retreat is 7 March 2025.

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GAM - GonzagArredi Montessori Srl Sede oper. Via Leone XIII, 7 - 46023 Gonzaga (MN), Italy Phone: +39 0376 518 200 montessori@gonzagarredi.it | www.gonzagarredi.com